Veterans Affairs committee  Are you referring to the OSISS peer support network?

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes, it's a tremendous program, and Canada is in fact recognized by many other countries as one of the pioneers in this type of approach. We know of many situations where these peer coordinators have intervened. Because they have gone through this situation, there's a contact, a

Veterans Affairs committee  We have very few that are specific complaints against the OSI treatment or access to treatment or that sort of thing. But we have a lot of other complaints from people who might be suffering from non-visible injuries or post-traumatic stress disorder who have complaints against t

Veterans Affairs committee  Do you mean to see me personally, or to have their case looked at by...?

Veterans Affairs committee  We have a process, and it's very important that the process be followed, because it's a development. It's for us a way and a means to identify systemic issues. If people come directly to me, or if they come to us and say “You should investigate the systemic issues”, we have no da

Veterans Affairs committee  I would emphasize the tracking, because it's all about people. If you know where the people are, you can find out what's wrong with them, and you can find out how they're doing, but in many instances that's the big problem. If we have a ways and means of identifying people and wh

Veterans Affairs committee  I think one of the first recommendations would be that people in Veterans Affairs need to be educated and trained in dealing with immediate needs—in other words with people in crisis, because it's not always a matter of passing the case on to a 911 number, to another agency. Some

Veterans Affairs committee  Definitely. How long does it take to change a culture? I think it's changing, but it's going to be generations before we see something that is evident. Unfortunately, in that respect the people who have the best chance of looking after their own are the ones more entrenched in t

Veterans Affairs committee  I would think you're quite right. In many cases, whether it's contact with the peer coordinating system through OSISS, or contact with our office or Veterans Canada, it's the family member who gets concerned who makes the initial contact. If there were any other recommendation I

Veterans Affairs committee  That's right. I am an advisor to the Minister, I advise him on concerns relating to programs and benefits. My mandate is that I am the representative of Canada's veterans.

Veterans Affairs committee  On the one hand, yes. But it is important to realize that the Office of the Veterans Ombudsman is an office of last resort. Ordinarily, we refer people to existing programs. However, we can use another approach where circumstances call for it—in English we talk about compelling c

Veterans Affairs committee  I am also paid by the government.

Veterans Affairs committee  First, we have talked about my mandate as Veterans Ombudsman. You will understand that my work focuses more on veterans than on serving members.

Veterans Affairs committee  As I said before, we don't deal with many cases that actually involve suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts. So it is not one of our targets at present. As I was saying, we see that as a systemic subject when it comes to veterans, and not one for Ombudsman.

Veterans Affairs committee  When it comes to veterans, this is not a target at present, or in the near future.